South Africa's Best Cloud Services

South Africa's Best Cloud Services - South African businesses can choose from five major cloud services to make their operations more flexible, and efficient, and to unlock strategic value.

If you've used the Internet in the last few years, you've probably visited a website or used an app that uses a cloud service.

The specifics of how a cloud computing platform works can be overwhelming.

However, as defined by Amazon Web Services (AWS), cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources via the Internet.

There are numerous advantages to using cloud services for your business rather than relying solely on your own equipment.

According to Google Cloud, one of the world's largest cloud service providers, there are six primary benefits to using cloud computing:

Benefits of using cloud computing

1. Reduced time to market

Companies can quickly and easily spin up apps and systems to test new ideas or designs and then retire them if they fail to deliver the desired result.

2. Flexibility and scalability

Businesses can scale computing power and storage as needed without having to invest in new physical infrastructure.

3. Financial savings

You only pay for the resources you use, eliminating the risk of expensive overbuilds or overprovisioning in your own data center space.

4. Improved collaboration

Your data is accessible from virtually any location on the planet, as long as the Internet is available. This enables people to work or collaborate from anywhere.

5. High-level security

Reputable cloud services provide a variety of security features, as well as automatic maintenance and centralized management. Top-tier providers also hire security experts to keep their security up to date.

6. Data loss avoidance

Backup and disaster recovery features to ensure that your company's systems and data can be restored in the event of a system failure or cyberattack.

Locally-based cloud services

Although it is technically possible to use a cloud service without a local presence, providers with local data center infrastructure will provide better performance due to lower latency.

Businesses should also be aware of certain provisions in South Africa's Protection of Private Information Act (POPIA) that govern the transfer of personal data from South Africans outside the country.

Section 72 of the act prohibits the transfer of data subjects' personal information to third parties outside of South Africa unless certain safeguards are in place.

Although these measures can be difficult to navigate, reputable cloud services must ensure that they adhere to the laws of the countries in which they operate.

As a result, using a service with a local presence may help your company avoid violating data-sharing laws when handling customer or employee information online.

The five largest cloud service providers in South Africa are listed below, with either a local presence or plans to open a South African region soon.

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

In April 2020, AWS will open its first African region in Cape Town. The location has three data center clusters, also known as availability zones.

The world's largest cloud service provider has deep roots in South Africa, having established a development center in Cape Town in 2004.

The team created Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), the first AWS cloud service, under the leadership of software engineer Chris Pinkham and lead developer Christopher Brown.

2. Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Most Internet users will have used a service powered by GCP in the last few years, as it now powers popular applications such as Google Search, YouTube, Google Drive, and YouTube.

Google announced in October 2022 that it would add a South African region to GCP, its first location in Africa.

The region will be held in Johannesburg and will include three zones. Its exact release date has yet to be determined.

3. The Huawei Cloud

Huawei Cloud provides three availability zones from its own data centers in Johannesburg, which went live in March 2019.

According to the company, this facility meets Tier 3+ standards. Huawei's own high-performance chips and network devices are used.

4. The Oracle Cloud

Oracle launched its Johannesburg region in January 2022, as one of eight new locations as part of an aggressive expansion strategy.

Oracle EMEA executive vice president Richard Smith said at the time that the new region offered a "next-generation" cloud that could run any application faster and more securely for less money.

Customers can use Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to migrate IT workloads and data platforms to the cloud or to build cloud-native applications.

5. Azure by Microsoft

In March 2019, Microsoft opened its first enterprise-grade data centers in South Africa, in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

In October 2021, it will add three Azure availability zones to its Johannesburg facility.

Azure serves as the foundation for all of Microsoft's cloud-based services, including the popular Microsoft 365 productivity suite.